page_title: Expédition Particulière
section_title: Yorktown Campaign
hierarchical_section_title: Expédition Particulière / Expedition / Yorktown Campaign
context_page_description: Expédition Particulière was the code name given by the French government for the plan to sail French land forces to North America to support the American rebel forces against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. In English it was known as the Special Expedition.
  The expedition, 5,500 strong, arrived in America on 11 July 1780. A second wave of 2,500 was intended to join them but was unable to escape the British blockade of Brest. After remaining inactive for almost a year, Rochambeau marched his troops south to rendezvous with George Washington's Continental Army for a planned attack on New York City. At Rochambeau's urging, Washington abandoned the planned attack and instead they moved into Virginia to join with the French fleet of Admiral François de Grasse to trap Lord Cornwallis's British army at Yorktown, forcing its surrender in October 1781.
context_section_description: In July 1781, Rochambeau's army left Rhode Island and marched across Connecticut to join Washington's army on the Hudson River at Dobbs Ferry, New York. From there the combined forces marched overland to Virginia. During this time, Admiral de Grasse managed to defeat a British fleet sent from New York City to evacuate British General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, trapping Cornwallis on the Yorktown peninsula. On September 22, Rochambeau and Washington combined forces with those of Marquis de Lafayette and began the siege of Yorktown. The siege ended with the surrender of Cornwallis on October 19, 1781.
caption: Siège de Yorktown by Auguste Couder, c.1836.[4] Rochambeau and Washington giving their last orders before the battle.
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